flowers and crimson threads
by kyouko
Summary: With another war starting, Termina's target—the heir to the throne—flees from the castle, takes on a new alias, and begins to learn how to protect herself from any and every thing that comes her way. While summoning mysterious monsters and using magic to aid in battle, she and a boy with cerulean eyes unfold schemes, solve mysteries, and try to stop their world from crumbling. lxz.


**flowers and crimson threads**

* * *

rated: T | genre: action/tragedy/mystery/romance | status: in-progress

- book one out of two (or three, i have no clue yet!) -

* * *

This is a rewrite of a previous story of mine (which has been deleted from the site) entitled _Red_. With this story, everything will seem different than the original, and by different, I mean _extremely_ different. You might remember my other one clearly and read this thinking, "_What_?" as it wasn't in the first. Well, this is a rewrite, not a revision, and it's going the way I want it to (the first story's plot just didn't seem well in my opinion, and I think this is the way I originally wanted it to be, but had no idea what I wanted to write for it). The first wasn't exactly my cup of tea—so here's the actual version.

If it seems like it's going too fast, remember that • • • are breaks in the story (and all of my other ones, for that matter), indicating that some time has gone by before the next set of paragraphs.

**THANK YOU** to my excellent beta reader, **clocktown**, also known as _bombisland_ on Tumblr.

* * *

**prologue**

* * *

I'm a princess, yes—I know I'm destined to take over the throne once I turn twenty years old. I'll have to be the ruler of Hyrule—the one that has to take care of the kingdom, keep peace on my land, and be in charge. I'll have to find someone to share a throne beside me—a burden, I believe—and be my king. Someone to love, possibly; someone to give everything to, _definitely_.

_ Everything_, I recite in my mind over and over again. _Everything that is yours will be called your future husband's own, you know?_

But does being a princess mean I can't do things the townspeople can? Does it really exclude me from doing things I've wanted to do since I was little? _Is it even able to?_

I hold my staff close to my chest, running my long fingers around the top of it, shaped like a flower—an ancient flower, from, of course, old times. The soft pink was a color I couldn't resist liking. The yellow underneath the flower made it seem so bright... So beautiful.

• • •

"Salutations, Your Highness," my caretaker greeted. "It's great you decided to join us." She tries to gently set her fork down onto her plate of fruit and vegetables, but it gives off a louder sound than intended. "Go ahead, sit down," she urges, getting up from her seat and pulling a chair out for me.

I nodded, curtseying kindly to her before taking a seat on the chair only I sit on. "Any news on Father?" I asked. "Has everything been settled with Termina yet?" I snuck a quick glance at her as she moved around the table and back to her seat, but the reaction I got was a frown.

"I'm afraid not." She sighed at that, looking down at her gloved hands in her lap. "Your father, you see..." She shook her head. "Things aren't going so well with Termina. Knowing enough about that kingdom, they could strike at any moment, you know."

My hands began to shake. "So..." my voice choked, "there will be a war soon?" I inquired, trying to hide the terror I felt. But then I remembered my previous question. "And what about Father?"

Impa glared at me. She seemed hesitant to speak, but eventually she caved. "He's trying to fix this whole ordeal up," she said, "that's for sure. But we have no idea what he's currently doing—or if he's even doing anything, for that matter."

My heart rate started to increase, worrying I'd lose my father because of Termina.

"If there's another war," Impa continued, "their target will be to destroy you. As you're the heir to the throne of Daphnes Nohansen, you're the one they're out for. They won't want any of the Royal Family of Hyrule's descendants alive."

"Any?" I coughed out, slightly intrigued by the way she meant it, but also disgusted by Termina, and how they wanted to vanish us... _my family_. "I'll be their first victim, huh?" I muttered, picking up the fork on my plate and playing with the food that resided on my plate. "But if Father is their first target... I'll be next. Then, the Royal Family..." I sighed. "The Royal Family will be gone... no blood relatives, nothing..."

Impa looked at me with concerned eyes, undoubtedly full of fear. "Do you know what that means, then?"

"I'm unsure," I mutterered to myself. "Whatever Father wishes, we will do."

Impa sat properly up in the dining chair, telling me, "You're going to be in hiding. We've found somewhere for you—it's with a mercenary and his son, who is most likely the same age as you, but his father assured me, as well as your father, that he will take good care of you. Until we have successfully stopped Termina from attacking, you may come back to the castle, but no sooner."

She took a piece of paper from her pocket with a pen, writing down a few notes: **NUJ ABERNATHY. LINK ABERNATHY.** Handing it to me, she said, "We leave tomorrow—you, _there_... me, Termina."

_This has gone too fast. It's so soon; how did this happen so quickly?_

"I'll be ready," I murmured. "You can count on that."

• • •

Everything's going to slip out of my reach. And it's going to happen soon, unless my father can prevent it.

But if he doesn't... _I'm their target_. They won't be after Hyrule; they'll be looking for me. The Termina soldiers will look anywhere, high and low. They'll assassinate me the moment they find me, and Hyrulean Family's legacy will be in jeopardy.

• • •

I tighten the hood of my black cloak around my face, letting the darkness overcome my facial features. I clutch onto my staff, bowing my head down as I was escorted out by the guards.

Impa followed close behind, making sure that I was going to the right household. _Abernathy_, my thoughts echoed continuously. I wasn't excited to leave. No, not at all.

Yes, being the heir to the throne is a bit overwhelming, but it doesn't mean it's not what I'm _supposed_ to do. I know I'll have to. And I'll come back once everything's over.

My caretaker (or should I say _former_ caretaker for the time-being?) rushed away from the trail as we heard an "Hey!" from the local Postman. I didn't dare stop—I was more interested about arriving at the Abernathy's.

• • •

As soon as Impa returned, I was already near where I was supposed to be. The guards made sure of that, of course. They had pictographs of the Abernathy's home, which I briefly looked at as I thought all houses in Castletown looked the same, so they knew where they were going.

"Your Highness," Impa said, laying a hand on my shoulder to make me stop for a moment. "We need to talk for a moment, if you don't mind."

I looked behind at her, turning around swiftly. "Can't we talk about this while we continue forward? It's not too far..."

"No," she interrupted indignantly. "Your father has alerted me as of late. He—"

"Is he coming home?" I blurted out, being disrespectful by not letting her finish. "Is everything alright? I can go home now, right?"

She shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry," she began, "but he couldn't fix things with Termina."

"I understand. You need not say more." I played with the laces on my gloves. "I completely understand—I know."

_ Time to get a move on, Zelda_, I thought before continuing to walk ahead, letting a couple tears escape.

* * *

**disclaimer**

* * *

image (c) vallerique on deviantart

characters used (c) nintendo, the legend of zelda

plot (c) me


End file.
